Solomon: Astros draft pick Springer could be fan favorite

CommentarySpringer can do flips and much more

JEROME SOLOMON, Copyright 2011 Houston Chronicle |
June 8, 2011

George Springer is the first outfielder taken in the first round by the Astros since 1988.

Typically, a major league draft pick is a long, long way from becoming a fan favorite in the big leagues.

Heck, most are usually a long, long way from becoming big leaguers.

That also could be the case for first-round Astros selection George Springer III. If it is, however, it would come as a surprise to his college coach, Jim Penders.

Penders gushes about his star center fielder, an all-around talent who has helped Connecticut advance to the NCAA super regionals, where it will face South Carolina this weekend in a best-of-three series for the right to go to the College World Series.

"Astros fans are going to love this guy," Penders said Tuesday. "Springer. I have never had a player whose last name fits better than his does. It's a perfect last name for not only how he plays the game but for how he lives life.

"He is a high-energy player who is all over the outfield. He can do the back flips on call. He is the loudest guy on the bus, the life of the party. People show up to watch him play. And kids love him."

Penders learned this when he took his then-5-year-old son Hank to one of Springer's high school games.

Early in the contest, Hank couldn't take his eyes off the former gymnast who usually does a back flip when he comes onto the field before a game, and he finally asked, "Dad, who is that guy?"

The elder Penders told his son that Springer was a UConn signee. "He is going to be my favorite Husky," little Hank said.

From the start of Springer's college career, children flocked to him, Penders says. Major league scouts followed.

A former Big East Rookie of the Year (2009), Springer was the conference Player of the Year this season and leads the Huskies with 83 hits, 12 homers, 77 RBIs and 60 runs (in 64 games). He holds school career records in homers (46) and runs (219).

And Springer, who says speed is his biggest asset, is a game-changer on defense with a "go get it" attitude and a strong arm.

"He has tremendous body control," Penders said. "He does things you're not supposed to be able to do. You do a double take and go, 'Did I just see him do that?' all the time.

Gymnastics helps

Springer admits to making some "How did I get there?" catches, but that's just part of his game.

"The ball's hit, and I go after it," Springer said. "As a player, you just go out and do whatever you have to do to make the catch."

His mother Laura is a gymnastics instructor, and she had her children taking gymnastics lessons when they were 18 months old. (Springer's sister Nicole is a softball star at the University of Hartford, and younger sister Lena is one of Connecticut's top high school pitchers.)

"It helped me tremendously with body control and body awareness and being able to understand my own strength," Springer said of the gymnastics training.

In his first couple years of high school, Springer was still small. So little, in fact, that Penders, the nephew of former UH basketball coach Tom Penders, wasn't sure Springer would be a major college baseball player.

'Astros got a good one'

But George Springer Jr., an attorney in Hartford, who Penders said "has got biceps that are bigger than my thighs," was a football and baseball player, as was his late father George Sr., who came to the U.S. from Panama in the 1950s. Eventually, the younger Springer filled out to his current 6-3, 200-pound frame.

"My dad did an unbelievable job (training) me," Springer said. "He was a tremendous athlete and still is. I grew into the genes I got."

Springer, 21, is the first outfielder taken in the first round by the Astros since 1988. Amazingly, none of the previous eight ever made it to the majors. Perhaps that trend will change soon.

"I'd love to see a level where they consistently get him out," Penders said. "He's a special talent and a special kid. The Astros got a good one."

For a franchise desperate for something to be excited about, Springer, who is hitting .350, should add some spring to Astros fans' stride.

"I will play as hard as I possibly can every day," he said, "and do whatever it takes to help the organization win."